Pool Adventures

Yesterday, the girls were thrilled to have Auntie Shannon come to Rosemary Pool for free swim with us.  Madeleine danced around in wild delight as Shannon pulled a bathing suit out of her suitcase, then, checking to make sure Auntie Shannon had done everything necessary to change into her suit, asked her, "Did you take your BREASTES off?"

Apparently Madeleine views breastes as accessories that some women may opt to remove in order to don a bathing suit.

When we got to the pool, the girls couldn't wait to plunge into the water, so I took them down to swim while Auntie Shannon filled out her visitor pass information at the front booth.  Madeleine asked me to get her goggles so she could show Auntie Shannon her underwater swimming skills.  Then Madeleine decided to show Auntie Shannon said skills without actually having Auntie Shannon there with us.

MADELEINE: Auntie Shannon!  Auntie Shannon!  I'm REEEEADYYY!  Watch!
ME: Honey, Auntie Shannon isn't down here yet.
MADELEINE: Yes she is!  I see her!
ME: Where?
MADELEINE: (pointing at a much older, dark-haired woman in full clothes, sitting on one of the pool benches) Right there!

I guess Madeleine's logic was that the woman had dark hair like Shannon, and therefore MUST be Shannon, despite all of the other physical differences.

At any rate, it wasn't long before Auntie Shannon was able to join Madeleine in the water for a grand old time:

Julia had the extreme delight of swimming with Auntie Shannon in the deep water, and got to show off her various diving board jumps for her auntie.  Julia has especially perfected her pencil jump, in which she basically drops off the board in a completely vertical position, making it look as if she's standing in the air when I capture it on film:

Speaking of the diving board, Madeleine FINALLY had her summer-long wish fulfilled, as today she got the chance to try out the diving board during Friday Fun Day swim lessons.  We have had the bad fortune of Friday Fun Day lessons being cancelled for the past few weeks - whether due to thunder, or a repair being done to the pool filter, or what not - and Madeleine has been waiting DESPERATELY for her turn to jump off the board.  Yesterday, she burst into tears at her lesson when she asked her teacher if she could go off the diving board, and her teacher told her not until Friday.  Waiting just ONE MORE DAY until Friday Fun Day felt absolutely unbearable to Madeleine. She has had her diving board bathing suit picked out for weeks, insisting that it is washed and clean in time for the big day.  And yet, something has foiled her chance to actually DO diving board day, week after week.

This morning it was pouring rain.  Lessons are a go even in rain, but the pool closes immediately upon the sound of thunder.  I obsessively checked the weather forecast all morning.  The girls have their lessons at 11:15.  When I checked upon waking, the forecast stated 0% chance of precipitation at that time.  A few hours later, the forecast had changed.  95% chance of thunderstorms starting at 11:15.

Madeleine gleefully donned her specially chosen bathing suit and galloped thumpily around the dining room.  "Yay Yay Yay!  It's my DIVING BOARD DAY!" she shouted.  I tried to brace her for the possibility of the pool closing before her lesson would begin.

ME: Madeleine.  I want to tell you something.  If the pool closes before your lesson, I need you to NOT throw a fit.  NO CRYING if you can't have your lesson today.  If you don't do the diving board today, I promise you'll get a chance to do it another day.
MADELEINE: (brightly) Okay!  I won't cry!  I promise!  Mama.  The pool is NOT gonna close.  I'm SURE.

Luckily, the lifeguards at the pool all knew what a fine line we were walking here.  When we arrived, shortly before 11:15, in the pouring rain, Madeleine's swim teacher assured me that the diving board would be the first thing on the lesson's agenda.  Usually, jumping off the dock or board is the very last thing the kids do in their lesson, but we all knew we were potentially on borrowed time, so everyone was ready to get right to business.

This is how important it was to Madeleine to go off the diving board: my kids were THE ONLY KIDS in the pool for lessons at 11:15.  Every other single kid opted out of swimming in the rain - as in, didn't even bother to show up at the pool.  Two kids, total, reported for Friday Fun Day.  And those two were mine.  And they swam in the pouring rain and had a blast.  Madeleine got to do FIVE jumps off the board!:

And because there were literally NO OTHER KIDS there, Julia and Madeleine got a chance to combine their lesson and ride on the surfboard together:

Everyone was thoroughly soaked after the lesson, whether from pool water or simply standing in the rain, but the girls had an absolute blast.  I was so grateful to their swim teachers for going through with the lessons despite the fact that not a single other kid showed up.

Now, at 2:18pm, the thunder has started, and I'm breathing a HUGE sigh of relief that it held off until after Madeleine's diving board dream was finally realized.  Phew!